


Cupid's Lesson

by SmilingLoon



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26545828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmilingLoon/pseuds/SmilingLoon
Summary: Upon learning a surprising fact, Jack visits Cupid with a question. Or in which Jack both pisses off and worries the Spirit of Love.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've finally put this on Ao3, too.

Cupid looked up from his position in the tree in annoyance as his arrow missed his target due to a certain winter spirit's sudden appearance.

"Damn," he cursed. That had been the perfect moment.

"Hey, you shouldn't use that kind of language!" The, very dead, winter spirit reprimanded.

Irritated pink eyes turned to the Guardian of Fun, "Do I look like a Guardian to you?" He wasn't a protector of children, had no relation with them besides his actions creating then, and therefore didn't really care about them.

The ancient god glanced at the youngest of their brood, "What do you want?" Spirits associated with childhood didn't usually interact with more adult spirits, such as love or war, unless it had to do with their domain, such as Aster and Spring's relationship.

Jack fidgeted uncomfortably underneath the unimpressed gaze, and stumbled over the next few words, ending in an incomprehensible jumble.

Cupid gave him an unamused glance. This was the spirit that North had joked would overtake his record of mischief? Cupid doubted it. From what he had gathered, Frost's type of mischief was more harmless fun and a grab for attention. His type of amusement however induced chaos. There was a reason that even the gods feared him.

Jack coughed sheepishly. It was different, being in the presence of a god, even if it wasn't one of the Olympians. He could feel the aura of power around Cupid, and it was almost stifling, urging him to kneel, to beg, to tremble in face of the difference between them. Not even Pitch had had such an aura. He vaguely remembered that the gods could make themselves visible at will as well.

"Well?" Pink eyes narrowed in warning. Jack, despite his fear, felt a bit irritated but he did nothing. Gods, according to Bunny, were arrogant and impatient. Mere spirits such as them couldn't afford their wrath.

"Well, I wanted to-uh, talk about -um, love," Jack finished lamely. Cupid shot him a disbelieving look and he flushed.

"And what brought this on?" Cupid asked slowly. He had a hard time believing that a spirit as childish as the Guardian of _Fun_ would want to talk about something as complex and incomprehensible as love.

"Uh, well, North mentioned that Pitch mentioned it once, and I was wondering about that," Jack explained nervously. _Please don't turn me into a dove, please don't turn me into a dove._

"And what exactly did the Spirit of Wonder say about the Spirit of Fear?" Cupid raised an eyebrow. The Boogeyman was hardly a concern, but Pitch Black, The Nightmare King, well his matters were Cupid's business and his alone.

"Uh, how is Pitch," Jack waved his arms while attempting to search for the word.

"Able to love?" Cupid asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Bunny mentioned how Mother Earth is his daughter and, well, that means he has to be able to love right?"

"Frost, you do know that's Familial Love and that I'm the Spirit of Desire, right?" He was a god of love, but not Love.

Jack flushed, "Yeah, but to get a daughter, he had to have loved someone enough to have a kid, right?"

Cupid frowned. The logic was flawed, but in this case, not wrong. "The Nightmare King did love a woman," he answered vaguely. If Frost didn't note the difference in address that wasn't his concern.

"But how?" The winter spirit looked genuinely frustrated.

Cupid smiled, and the sight made Jack take a step back warily. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the kind of smile smiled before delivering bad news for the satisfaction of a dismayed reaction. There was a touch of anger in his smile though as well.

"How was Pitch Black, the Bringer of Fear, able to love someone?" Cupid finished. Jack nodded.

Cupid didn't answer immediately. The question had more substance than it first appeared. The Boogeyman, for all his enjoyment of terror, was a coward. He could never put another above himself. The Nightmare King, however, was a different matter.

He was far more complex than the pale shell that the Guardians faced. His mother knew it more intimately, but he was a god of love as well, and he could feel the chaos in the spirit's heart. There was darkness there, enough that Cupid could believe that that incarnation of Pitch Black had once commanded, and held, the fear of Tartarus. And yet, there was a small ounce of light, a hint that Kozmotis Pitchiner wasn't dead.

Cupid snorted, " _I_ fell in love,"

"Yeah, but you're you. The god of love, and all that," Jack waved his arm.

Cupid barked out a laugh, "You young spirits are so pampered. No threats, no chaos, no fear… you have no idea what I was like back then," He crossed his arms.

"There was a _reason_ that the King of the Gods feared me, Winter Sprite," he had reveled in chaos, and Zeus, the paranoid power-hungry fool that he was, was wary of any threats to his power.

The paltry little tricks that Frost managed was nothing compared to the tumult that Cupid had wrecked before he had married. The other nature spirits were never more than exasperated with Frost's antics. And they weren't cruel enough to bring small mishaps before Demeter.

"Because Love is far more complicated than you can imagine, little spirit," not even he, the god of love could truly comprehend Love. It was beyond reason or logic.

"Love," he moved closer, close enough to force the Winter Spirit to back up. "Means placing someone else above yourself. It means placing their happiness, their safety, their life, before yours,"

Pink locked on to azure. "It means you no longer live for yourself,"

He moved back, "At least that is Love; love is far less complicated. Very few experience Love. That is why there are epics and tales written about it,though they often add aspects of love into Love"

"Um, what's the difference? It's the same word," Jack asked in puzzlement. Cupid sighed. Explaining love to Jack was like explaining the Love to a child, literally.

"There is a difference big enough that Love," he emphasized the word, "is something that even I can not comprehend. The other, love," he sniffed, "Is the fuzzy, warm feeling," Oh, how he hated that description.

He blamed Apollo. That idiotic sun god had been foolish enough to use it to describe the feeling one of his latest conquests gave him, and the terms had stuck… for _millennia._

Frost just stared stupidly back. Cupid sighed.

"Frost, Love changes people. People like the Nightmare King would destroy worlds, destroy _themselves_ , for the one they love,"

That seemed to help the boy understand something, if his wide eyes were anything to go by. He should have just done this from the beginning. He paused, then looking curious, asked a question that made the god freeze.

"So who does Pitch love?" A simple question with a complex answer. Zeus had forbidden his mother or him to say anything about the matter, especially this, in fear of a strong reaction. The shell was easy to handle. The Nightmare King at full strength, the Lord of Chaos, was another matter entirely.

"She's dead," was his sole response. The bluntness would shock the Winter Sprite enough not to pursue the topic. For all his mischief, and despite his appearance, Jack Frost was really only an overgrown child. He wouldn't talk about death.

Zeus had forbidden them to even speak her name. Before he had met Psyche he had wondered what sort of woman could have gained the love of the Nightmare King. Afterwards, he had laughed because Love never asked. It just came to be, and nobody, not even a god could stop it.

Perhaps the reason why Cupid himself was so sensitive to the topic was the similarity to his own love. It didn't matter though. No one, not even Hades could bring back the dead.

* * *

**Hello guys. I came across this in my collection one day, and I was like 'ok, it looks cool. Why not upload it?' It's based more on the books than the movie, but I've always wondered. We know about Pitch's daughter, but we know literally nothing about Pitch's wife besides how she died. I've always been fascinated with our dear Lady Pitch Black, and so here's a little hint of that.**


	2. A Reprimand From North

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before the conversation with Cupid, Jack finds himself at the North Pole.

The winter winds raced over the horizon as Wind carried Jack through the sky. He had just come back from a snow day in Burgess and causing several minor snow storms along the rest of the east coast and the few areas of the upper regions of Europe that weren’t already covered in several feet of snow. 

He had been with Jamie for most of the day and thoroughly enjoyed creating the ultimate sledding course and watching the setting sun cast the sky into as many colors as a watercolor painting as the light made the ice sparkle. Afterwards, the kids had gone inside for hot chocolate and he had decided to try some as well, the best, straight from the North Pole. 

North would most likely humor him, with fond exasperation if nothing else, though considering how close it was to Christmas he thought the old spirit perhaps did have a right to be a little irritated with him. 

“Of course,” he thought as he jumped through the window and landed on the floor just in time to swipe a cookie from an elf, “North would always be more than happy to have a guest, invited or not.”

He swiped a glass of hot chocolate from another elf as he passed before heading over to North’s study, where he knew the spirit spent most of his time as it became closer to his holiday, pouring over sketches, testing toys, reading letters, and editing lists. 

Jack nimbly dodged a few yetis carrying a particularly big present and maneuvered into the first door on the right, where he knew North’s study was. 

As usual, it was as harried as ever, if not more so. There were several dozen yetis in various places, all completely focused on their tasks. And in the far corner of it all was North, glasses on his nose as he poured over one thing or another. He looked up as he saw Jack come to stand by him, the shadow occluding his papers. 

“Jack!” A smile broke out over his face before blue eyes narrowed. “How many times have I told you to knock, hmm?” 

Jack grinned in a manner that was far from apologetic, “Sorry North, I forgot” 

He snorted, “Believable, very believable. So what brings you, Jack?” 

“Well actually I just wanted some hot chocolate… and maybe a cookie or two”

“You didn’t steal special Christmas tree cookies, did you?” North gave him a searching look, as if trying to spot cookie crumbs on him. “Those are to help us get through the night, Jack”

“Oh, come one, you have all the little kids across the world leaving cookies and milk for you”

“I am more concerned about you eating cookies, Jack. Last thing I need is hyper winter spirit causing more mayhem. On Christmas!” 

“I’m not that bad,” Jack moved to the side to follow North as he stepped up to deliver a few scrolls with a giant green checkmark on them. He guessed they were a list of completed presents.

“You are.” 

“Are not,” He stepped back to avoid a yeti.

“Are too. I am not going to spend rest of night arguing this when all this work needs to be done, Jack,” he waved to the hundreds of other scrolls lying on the desk, the chair, the ground, and scattered everywhere across the room. 

Jack moved to reply but doing so made him bump his head against a rather long, thin scepter thing on the shelf above his head. He wondered just what kid would ask for that. Maybe they had taken a special liking to Loki or something. Curious, and wondering if it actually resembled the Norse god’s scepter Jack took it in hand. 

It was unlike any other object he had seen in North’s lab, covered in wrappings so thick and with so many runes scrawled on it he could barely make out any of them. There were at least a dozen folds that he had to move back before he could see what the actual scepter looked like. 

Pure black, he hesitated to say wood because it didn’t look like any material he had ever seen, greeted him. Well, it couldn’t be Loki’s then, the god had a liking to gold and green as best he could recall (and was rather vicious when enacting revenge in an incident that Jack vowed to bury to his last days). 

It was beautiful in a dark way, like the fire that drew a moth in before consuming it, polished to the point it shone and with beautifully crafted edges. It emitted a rather eerie feeling and he couldn’t help but wonder why North had it in his study. Or with him at all. 

He felt the oddest urge to touch it, to run a finger along it’s smooth edge and claim it. So beautiful. He wanted it. It was such a waste to just leave it here, forgotten in a corner of a busy workroom. 

Jack reached out and ran a finger along a gilded edge and nearly dropped it when he felt the scalding heat and darkness run through him. His yelp drew North’s attention and the man was at his side in an instant, picking up the staff and rewrapping it, careful not to touch it, before placing it back on the shelf. 

“What was that?” Jack pointed at the scepter. 

North sighed, “That is, was, the Stave of Eidolon. It was the Nightmare King’s weapon.”

Jack jumped and his eyes widened at his compatriot, “You have Pitch’s staff? Here?” He paused, “How come I’ve never seen it? And why do you have it?” 

North steered Jack away from the scepter, as if he had sensed how much it called to him, “It was long ago, back when I was still young guardian, new to this business. After Pitch escaped his prison he left behind his staff so we kept it” 

“You _kept_ something like that?” 

North shrugged, “We did not want Pitch getting it back. According to Bunny, it was terrifying weapon. And we could not destroy it,” he said the last part sheepishly, as if it was a particularly embarrassing experience for him.

“What do you mean you couldn’t destroy it? Just chuck it into space or something,”

“No, no. I mean could not be destroyed. We tried, nothing worked. And we thought better to keep it under our eye than not know where it went and Pitch finding it” 

“Oh,” 

“We tried to give to Mother Earth for safe keeping but she did not want it,” 

“Why Mother Earth?” He backtracked hurriedly in case she was listening. “I mean, I know she’s really powerful and all, but why give it to her?” 

“No one better. Even Pitch will not go against her, too powerful. Though partially because even he won’t harm his own daughter,” 

“She’s his _daughter_?” The loudness of his shout gained the attention of the yetis and a few elves even peeked in from outside. He gave them a sheepish smile and a wave to get back to whatever they were doing before focusing back on North. 

“How come I never knew?” He couldn’t deny that not knowing, especially if all the other guardians knew, hurt a bit. It was like they were back to not trusting him again. 

North apparently picked up on his turmoil since he laid a hand on his shoulder, “Mostly because never came up. Mother Earth refuses to get involved with our conflicts with Pitch and will not choose a side. But she has rather temperamental personality and we would prefer not to anger her by bringing it up constantly,”

“Pitch has a daughter?” Jack repeated, completely dumbfounded. He had always assumed that the Nightmare King had just appeared one day and done evil. He had never thought he had a past, or a _daughter._

“Yes, Jack, Pitch has daughter,” North sighed as he looked at the open-mouthed winter spirit. A corner of his mouth crinkled up at the sheer befuddlement on the boy’s face. 

“Mother Earth is Pitch’s daughter?” Jack’s hands went to his head. “That explains so much. I mean she was always a bit scary, and she has a weird temper, and she-” his words cut off as North slammed a hand over his mouth. 

“Shut up,” North hissed, glancing worriedly at the window where the snowstorm had started to pick up. Jack’s eyes widened in understanding, “I-I mean, Mother Earth is amazing, you know, being so powerful and all.” 

North slid a hand over his eyes at the embarrassing display but eased his grip on Jack, “I would have thought you would have better apologies, being so used to giving them,” he grumbled. 

“Shut up,” a pale blue hue flushed Jack’s cheeks, which North guessed was the equivalent of a blush for a winter spirit. “She’s scary and you know it.” Since there was no complimentary flash of lightning North guessed Mother Earth found his fear amusing. He assumed anyway, that woman was as hard to mercurial as her father. 

“So anyway, about Pitch having a daughter, how is that even possible?” Jack asked. North rubbed his temples, “Did last few seconds teach you nothing, Jack?”

“Yeah, but I’m still curious,” the immortal pain in the neck as Bunny and several of the other spirits had taken to calling him, rose a few inches off the ground so he could stare North in the eye. 

“Puppy look not going to work, Jack,” the staring continued. 

“Fine,” he sighed. “I don’t know much. Pitch is old, older than Manny. If you really want to know, ask Bunny,” 

Jack’s sudden increase in height vanished as he fell back to the floor in surprise. From the way his gaze hadn’t left North, the Christmas spirit wondered if he had even noticed in his surprise. 

“Pitch is older than the Man in the Moon? How old is he then? And why would the Kangaroo know?” Jack leaped up again, swirling around him in a burst of speed that made North dizzy and the yetis swerving to get out of his way. “Is he older than Sandy, too? Is he even from Earth?” 

North held out his arm and forced Jack to pause, “Pitch is older than Man in Moon. I don’t know, but Sandy and Bunny might since they lived in Golden Age.” Ombric might too, but the last thing the old wizard would want was an energetic winter spirit messing up his experiments, or his home. 

“Bunny and Sandy lived during the Golden Age? How come they never told me?” Jack paused for a moment. “What was the Golden Age?” 

Just then a bullhorn sounded three times, the long held signal for the arrival of new letters. North scowled, thinking of how far behind schedule they were already, and he didn’t even want to think of how much a single batch of letters would put them behind schedule, much less three. “Okay, time to go Jack. I need to work,” and pushed him to one of the yetis who immediately started herding the still questioning Jack out the door. 

Jack scowled as he was unceremoniously tossed outside, with a complimentary bag of cookies landing beside him in the snow. “Well, time to go bug Bunny, then. He’s not going to be busy right now,” and flew off in search of the Warren. 

At least the cookies were good. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m thinking about uploading one more part in this little set where Jack goes to Bunny to find out a bit more about Pitch. We'll see how my motivation swings.


End file.
